ISLAMABAD: Along with running her own clothing business, 40-year-old Shai Gul also runs a handicraft centre to train other women in her native town in Kalash Valley.

Ms Gul was one of the 57 women attending the first National Women`s Jamboree, hosted by the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), on Tuesday.

Speaking at the event, Ms Gul said woman have the potential to run their own families provided they take the steps to beat social taboos. She told Dawn she earns Rs120,000 every six months as she sells her clothes on the eve of special festivals.

Nusrat Yousaf from Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir urged women to take part in outdoor activities.

`In Rawalakot, we have set up a women`s market run by women,` she said.

PPAF had invited commu-nity leaders from across Pakistan to celebrate the 8th Annual Amtul Rageeb Awards and for the first National Women`s Jamboree.

Amtun Rageeb was a PPAF social mobiliser killed in 2011 by terrorists on her way back from a healthcare centre in Mastung, Balochistan.

The event highlighted female leaders from rural GilgitBaltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and the tribal districts who, through resilience and determination and with exemplary effort and work, have provided for their households and communities.

This year, the Amtul Rageeb Awards were presented to seven exceptional women for extraordinary and courageous developmental work for their communities.

The award highlighted the work of champions including Bibi Sadga from Killa Saifullah in Balochistan, Bibi Saleha from Lasbela in Balochistan,Shabana Gul from Upper Dir in KP, Faryad Khela, from Karak, KP, Shazia Shiekh from Thatta, Sindh, Janat Manzoor from Rajanpur, Punjab, and Rugya Bibi from Layyah, Punjab.

PPAF CEO Qazi Azmat Isa said the fund is committed to supporting and celebrating women, particularly with the Amtul Rageeb Awards and now with the National Women`s Jamboree.

`Women must be encouraged and supported urst and foremost by us men, to participate fully in the civic, economic and political mainstream. It is only through this wholehearted partnership that Pakistan can be transformed into the nation that it needs to become,` he added.

One of the winners, Faryad Khela, spoke about the difficulties she experienced in her battle for female involvement in community development projects.

Other than facing misogyny and unhelpful government officials, her husband threatenedher with divorce if she did not halt her welfare work, `I thought, I had to be strong if I wanted other women to be strong too. I reached out, recruited, and encouraged other women to come out andjoin the fight for their rights, she said.

Awards were also presented to winners of the poster and short film competition that PPAF organized for university students of Rawalpindi andIslamabad to mark the 16 Days of Activism against GenderBased Violence campaign.

Madiha Khalid from the National University of Sciences and Technology (Nust) won the poster competition and NoorAlvi from Nust was declared runner-up. Momal Ali from Fatima Jinnah Women University won the short film competition and Alia Fatima from Nust was presented the runner up award.